tadepalligudem l sunday l october 05, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l city EDITION Non-fastag vehicles to be charged twice the toll fee if paid via cash fILE pHOTO Those paying with UPI to be charged 1.25X Under the new rule, non-FASTag users who choose to pay the fee via the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) will be charged only 1.25 times the applicable user fee for that category of vehicle, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) said. For instance, if the fee is `100 with a valid FASTag, it will be `125 if paid via UPI and `200 if paid in cash | P7 Vehicles entering a toll plaza without a valid, functional FASTag will be charged twice the regular amount if users pay via cash Part of govt’s digital payments push ■ ■ “To incentivise digital payments and eliminate cash transactions at the user fee plazas, the Government of India has amended National Highways Fee Rules, 2008,” the ministry said in a press release The goal is to enhance transparency in toll operations and improve the overall experience of those travelling on national highways, it said Nov 15 when the new rules will come into effect CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Centre makes U-turn on cough syrup; MP, Rajasthan, TN ban it plot thickens Bandmate claims Zubeen was poisoned k a v i ta b a je l i d at t @ New Delhi P r a s a n ta m a z u m d a r @ Guwahati In a startling claim, late singer Zubeen Garg’s bandmate Shekhar Jyoti Goswami has alleged that the singer was poisoned by his manager Siddharth Sharma and the organiser of the 4th edition of the North East India Festival Shyamkanu Mahanta. Garg died under mysterious circumstances in Singapore on September 19 while swimming in the sea. According to the ‘Detailed Grounds of Arrest’ or remand note for the singer’s manager, Goswami stated that during the critical moment when Garg was gasping for air and nearly drowning, Sharma was heard Zubeen Garg shouting, “jabo de, jabo de” (let him go, let him go). When Garg began frothing at the mouth and nose, Sharma reportedly dismissed it as “acid reflux” and assured others there was no cause for concern. Rather than seeking urgent medical assistance, Sharma allegedly facilitated Garg’s death, Goswami claimed. In another development, Zubeen Garg’s wife Garima on Saturday returned the postmortem report of her husband to the police, saying that it is not her “personal document”. On Goswami’s startling revelations, Garima said, “If Shekhar had known it, why did he hide it for so long?” Out of Office PLUS 12 PAGES Prime Minister Narendra Modi honouring a youth in New Delhi | PTI Modi assails ‘theft’ of Jan Nayak honour Karpoori Thakur lauded that way; Cong ‘bestows’ it on Rahul Bihar is one of the states with the highest proportion of youth... compared to the Oppn govt in the past, Bihar’s education budget has been increased manifold Narendra Modi RA J E SH K UMAR THA K UR @ New Delhi Launching skilling projects for the youth worth `62,000 crore, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday lit into poll-bound Bihar’s Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), blaming it for ruining the state’s education and economy during its rule, alleging it opened the floodgates of mass migration out of the state. He also mocked Rahul Gandhi, whom the Congress has been trying to project as a ‘Jan Nayak’ (leader of the masses), accusing the party of ‘stealing’ the honorific associated with respected OBC leader and former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur. It was the love and respect of the people that gave Thakur the moniker, he quipped, not social media. “The new generation might not know how the RJD rule had wreaked havoc in Bihar, as the state has since been brought back on the track of development,” Modi said. He complimented the Nitish Kumar government for a major turnaround in the state. Modi launched PM-SETU (Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs), a centrally sponsored scheme with an investment of `60,000 crore. India’s ITIs are not only an important centre for industrial education but also serve as workshops for ‘aatmanirbhar Bharat’, he said. The youth-centric projects, he emphasised, would play a vital role in development and empowerment. The PM commended Nitish for providing nearly 10 lakh permanent government jobs to Bihar’s youth, saying the idea is to ensure youngsters of the state get employment in Bihar itself so as to stop migration. `1K dole to Bihar grads One of the schemes launched was to give 5 lakh grads in Bihar a monthly allowance of `1,000 each for two years Plan to upgrade 1K ITIs PM-SETU to upgrade 1,000 govt ITIs in a hub-andspoke model comprising 200 hub ITIs and 800 spoke ITIs HOURS after denying that controversial cough syrup Coldrif, which led to deaths of children in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan did not contain industrial chemical diethylene glycol (DEG), the Union Health Ministry on Saturday made a U-turn and confirmed its presence based on a report of Tamil Nadu’s Food and Drug Administration department. The Ministry’s earlier denial followed a clearance from the Madhya Pradesh Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA), which had then stated that no DEG was found in the syrup. After the confirmation on Saturday, Tamil Nadu was the An official inspects Coldrif syrup in Jabalpur on Saturday | PTI first to ban the syrup, followed by MP and Kerala. Coldrif cough syrup were being manufactured at Sresan Pharma’s Kanchipuram unit. The controversy snowballed after nine children died in MP’s Chindwara district, seven from the cough syrup, while two kids died in Rajasthan. The cough syrup stocks were distributed to Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. In a statement, the Union Health Ministry said, “On the request of the MP Govt, Tamil Nadu FDA had taken samples of Coldrif Cough Syrup from the manufacturing premises of M/s Sresan Pharma in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. The results of testing these samples were shared with us late on October 3. They contained DEG beyond the permissible limit.” The Tamil Nadu Drugs Control Department on Friday issued an immediate stop-production order to the manufacturer of Coldrif after the samples were found to be “adulterated with DEG.” CM Naidu announces ride-booking app for auto drivers and welfare board E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu announced that an Auto Drivers’ Welfare Board will be set up to secure the future of auto drivers, adding that they will develop an app for auto drivers to receive bookings directly . “The government will soon launch a dedicated ride-booking app for auto drivers on the lines of Uber/Rapido. This app will bring bookings directly to drivers, ending the need to wait at auto stands. A control room will also be set up, and the revenue earned through the app will be spent only for drivers’ welfare,” he added. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu launched the ‘Auto Drivers Sevalo’ scheme to benefit auto and maxi cab drivers, along with Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan and HRD Minister Nara Lokesh, at Makineni Basavapunnaiah Stadium in Ajith Singh N a g a r, Vijayawada. Before the launch, the CM, Deputy CM, HRD Minister, and AP BJP Chief PVN Madhav reached the stadium by taking an auto ride, a 14-kilometer journey from Undavalli, to mark the official rollout of the scheme. A total of Rs 436 crore was credited directly into the accounts of 2,90,669 beneficiaries under this scheme. “The auto drivers’ welfare is our priority We are implement. ing the Auto Driver Sevalo pro- CM Nara Chandrababu Naidu took a 14 kilometer auto ride to the venue in Vijayawada on Saturday to launch the Auto Driverla Sevalo program | Express Drushyam style case solved: Man killed friend over wife’s obscene video E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Anantapur Bulldozer justice back A banquet hall owned by one of those arrested in connection with the recent clashes linked to the ‘I love Muhammad’ campaign, being demolished by the Bareilly Development Authority in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly on Saturday | PTI The Nallacheruvu police of Sri Sathya Sai district cracked a Drushyam-style murder case on Saturday Kadiri DSP J. Shi. va Narayana Swamy revealed the details at a media conference, stating that Sheikh Dada Peer, Pathan Mohammed Yasin, and Pathan Sadik Bhasha had been arrested in connection with the murder of Tangedukunta Amarnath of Allu Gundu village in Nallacheruvu mandal. Sheikh Dada Peer and Tangedukunta Amarnath were close friends, and Amarnath used to visit Dada Peer’s house frequently . One day when Dada Peer was , not at home, Amarnath went there and secretly recorded a video on his cellphone while Peer’s wife was taking a bath. Later, he showed the video to her and began harassing her to satisfy his sexual desires. When she informed her husband about the incident, he hatched a plan to kill Amarnath. As part of the plan, on June 10, 2023, the three accused called Amarnath and took him in an auto to a hillock. There, they beat him to death with stones and took his body to the Cherlopalli dam, located in Nallacheruvu mandal. The accused tied the body to a rock with ropes and threw it into the waters of the dam. At that time, a missing case had been registered for Amarnath. District SP S. Satish Kumar had instructed officials to expedite investigations into unidentified murders and suspicious death cases. During the course of the investigation, the facts came to light, and the accused later surrendered at the Nallacheruvu police station on Saturday The auto used in the . crime was also seized. c h a n g i n g ti m e s Gill new ODI captain; Rohit, Virat in but no long-term guarantees S w a r o o p S w a m i n at h a n @ Ahmedabad SHUBMAN Gill was named as the men’s ODI captain of the national team, a post previously held by Rohit Sharma. Sharma, whose last act as ODI skipper saw him leading the side to Champions Trophy glory in February-March, was also named in the side scheduled to tour Australia for a threematch 50-over series later this month. Virat Kohli, whose last India tie was that Champions Trophy final against New Zealand, has been included too. However, Ajit Agarkar, the chairperson of the men’s selection committee panel, was noncommittal when asked about Sharma and Kohli’s long-term futures in the format. “As far as the 2027 World Cup is concerned, I don’t think we need to talk about it today,” he said in reference to their futures. But Shubman Gill & Rohit Sharma (R) Gill’s elevation to the top in the 50-over game is a direct consequence of the upcoming tournament in South Africa. Agar- kar conceded that removing Sharma was tough. “You have got to sometimes look at what’s coming ahead, where you stand as a team and eventually look at what’s in the best interest of the team, whether now or six months later. Like I said, it’s tough with one-day cricket at this point. Because if you are going to make that call, you want to try and make it reasonably early and give the other guy enough chances.” When asked what the selectors are looking for from Sharma and Kohli from a long-term perspective, Agarkar said: “What they have been doing for years... runs. They are still leaders. But big meet India-Pak aga in, this time at Women’s WC eventually it’s the runs (...) You , don’t have to think too far. At this point, the team is picked for Australia. We need them to score runs like they have been through their career.” Amidst the off-field tension & drama, two nations face each other in Colombo today. However, there is a high chance of rain | P11 gram solely for the welfare of auto drivers. The coalition government directly deposited the money into the bank accounts of all eligible beneficiaries,” the CM said. He highlighted the government’s focus on road repairs, with nearly 23,000 kilometers of roads made pothole-free. “In the past, autos were subjected to heavy fines. We will cancel unnecessary fine-related GOs, simplify the challan process, and also convert autos into EVs with government support,” he remarked. The CM described the coalition government as truly a government for the poor, stating that in the past 15 months, they had been providing good gover nance and bringing change to every poor person’s life. He added that the government had fulfilled its Super 6 promises, while Prime Minister Modi reduced financial burdens through Super GST.  P4 express read Major illicit liquor racket busted Tirupati: Excise Department and police bust major illicit liquor racket in Annamayya District, seizing liquor and equipment worth `1.75 crore. 9 accused, including TDP leader Katta Surendra Naidu, arrested. Liquor was supplied to 500 belt shops across the constituency and transported to other districts | P3 MEPMA wins four Swachh awards Vijayawada: MEPMA wins four state-level awards at Swachh Andhra Awards for Best Social Media Management and Swachh SLF Awards in Terrace Garden and Home Compost categories. CM Naidu to present the awards, recognizing MEPMA’s efforts in urban poverty alleviation and environmental initiatives | P3 I200 cr for Vizag flood mitigation Visakhapatnam: The Centre has allocated `200 crore for Vizag under Phase-II of the Urban Flood Risk Mitigation Programme to strengthen the city’s resilience against flood-related disasters. The programme will implement structural and non-structural measures, including stormwater management systems | P4